Folding furniture.



No. 707,288. Patented Aug. l9, I902.

W. WENNEIS.

FOLDING FURNITURE.

(Application filed Aug. is, 1899. Renewed May 29,1902. (No Model.) v 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

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Patented Aug. 19, I902. W. WENNEIS.

FOLDING FURNITURE.

(Application filed Aug. 19, 1899. Renewed May 29, 1902.

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(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES WILLIAM wnunnrs, OF WEEHAWKEN, NEW JERSEY.

FOLDING FURNITURE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 707,288, dated August 19, 1902.

Application filed August 19, 1899. Renewed May 29, 1902. Serial No. 109,480. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM WENNEIS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Weehawken, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Furniture, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in folding furniture,and has for its-object the production of a combination article which will be neat, simple, and compact and which will normally closely simulate an ordinary sofa, but which may be easily and readily distended and arranged to form a comfortable bed of normal width and height.

To these ends my said invention consists in the novel features and in the arrangements and combination of parts, all ashereinafter more fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in the several figures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure l is a side view' showing my invention with the parts extended and arranged to form a bed. Fig. 2 is a similar View with the side arm and ornamentation omitted, showing the parts in their normal and folded position to constitute a sofa. Fig. 3 is a similar sectional view on the line 1 1 of Fig. 6 with the parts folded. Fig. 4 represents a central transverse section. Fig. 5 is a side view, and Fig. 6 is a top plan view, of Fig. 1.

a represents the rigid back of the sofa-bed of any suitable contour and ornamentation and joined to the base b, which may be provided with the drawer c, Fig. 4:, in which the bedclothes may be stored when not in use. (1

represents one arm of the sofa, hinged at d to or levers g, having the longitudinal slots g,

in which are engaged the projecting pins or.

v Whenthe article of furniture is arranged as a sofa, the parts will occupy the relative positions shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4:, and 5, with the seat-frame e in its rearward position, the back 'i resting at an angle upon the upholstery of said seat and against the rigid back aand with the headpiece Z folded up against said rigid back and concealed by the movable back '5 and by the side-ornamentation and arms'of the sofa. When it is desired to transpose the article into a bed, the lower edge of the movable back i is moved upward and then forward, said back partially rotating on the pivots '5 thereby through the pins h and slotted arms 9 rotating the shaft f and pinions f and moving the seat-frame ealso forwardly, the levers j and the slots g in arms g being of a length sufficient to permit the movable back '5 to project in the same horizontal plane beyond the'front edge of the seat-frame e in its extended position and form the footpiece of the bed, as in Fig. 1. The forward movement of the seat-frame e, as described, actuates the leversk through pivots t" to rotate the headpiece l in its brackets and to seat the same on the depressed shoulder n at the rear of said frame, the headpiece, seat, and movable back' thus forming a continuous and practically unbroken surface for the bed. In

all articles of this class with which I am famade, abnormally long, the dual function of the article being at once apparent, while in my invention the length of the sofa constitutes the width of the bed, so that I am able to produce a combination article of the nor-.

vention as applied to a sofa-bed, the same principle may obviously be applied to other articles of furniture and changes and modifications may be made in the arrangement and construction Without departing from the principle and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In folding furniture, a base, a slidable seat mounted thereon, a back independent of said seat, and arms or levers pivoted near the top of said back and to the sides of said seat near the rear thereof, whereby, when in extended position, the upper edge of the back impinges against the front edge of said seat, substantially as described.

2. In folding furniture, the combination with a base and a folding headpiece, of a slidable seat mounted on said base, a movable back and arms or levers pivoted near the top of said back and to said seat, whereby said back may be moved into the same horizontal plane as, and in front of said seat, substantially as described.

3. In folding furniture, a rigid back, a folding headpiece journaled thereon, and a base; in combination with folding arms, a movable seat mounted on said base and a movable back connected to said seat by arms or levers; arms or levers connecting said seat to said headpiece, and means, actuated by said back for moving said seat, substantially as described.

4. In folding furniture, a rigid back, a movable headpiece journaled thereon and a base; in combination with a movable seat mounted on said base and a movable back; levers connecting said back and seat, and the seat and the headpiece; and means actuated by said movable back for moving the seat and levers, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a rigid back having a movable headpiece journaled thereto, a base and a shaft carrying pinions journaled in said base; of a seat-frame provided with racks engaging said pinions; a movable back, the top thereof being connected with the rear of said seat by levers, and pins projecting from the bottom thereof through slotted 1evers rigidly connected to the said shaft; and levers pivoted to the seat and to the headpiece, substantially as described.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this lath day of August, A. D. 1899.

WILLIAM WENNEIS.

Witnesses:

FREDERIO OARRA UER, MINNIE FISHER. 

